Inside Your Head
by chndoll
Summary: What if someone can get inside your head? And what if she doesn't want to do it at all? Post-Defenders story with an OC, crime, adventure, and love interests, focusing on team dynamic but includes romance as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I haven't written fiction in years but now just felt the urge. :) As you may notice English in not my native language. Please excuse me for all of my mistake in advance. I hope the story is going to be enjoyable though. Let me know what you think and feel free to correct my mistakes in comments. :)**

 **My intention is to create a realistic story with strong atmosphere and genuine characters. The story takes place after The Defenders season 1, but it might have some minor changes comperated to it, however I want my story to be coherent and whole within its own world.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, of course.**

Chapter One: Trish Talk

"I think I'm going crazy."

For a long moment only the soft clicking of spoons and cups was heard. Trish Walker took a breath before sipping from her coffee.

„What do you mean?" she asked in a kind and sympathetic tone.

„It's just... I don't know."

The coffeeshop in the avenue nearby the radio station where they worked together was fully crowded. Everyone had there after-lunch coffee break, laughter and the smell of freshly ground coffee filled the air. It was a nice, sunny day, exceptionally warm April in New York City. Abigail Pond shifted uncomfortably on her seat. She had been irritated for a while in people's closeness. In order to break the silence, Trish smiled and started to talk.

„It's way too much stress these days. I know, I also feel it. The whole situation with Barker's leaving makes all of nervous. Of course you are effected. Wait... Abbie! do you want to be the next editor-in-chief?"

Abbie glared at her and sighed.

„Oh, God, no... Not at all. It's something else. But... nah, you wouldn't understand it anyway."

Her original intention was talking to Trish as the only one something-close-to-a-friend she was to her. Maybe it was a bad idea from the beginning. She probably should never tell such things to anyone, but what the hell should she do then? Sit down and wait for complete madness? She had thought of going to a shrink. It just couldn't work, she would be instantly drugged up.

„I understand much more than you would ever imagine", answered Trish with a little bitterness in her voice.

Abbie decided, she didn't have a thing to lose. What if Trish cuts off the relationship with her? It doesn't matter. It wouldn't effect work and that's the most important. If she doesn't tell this to anyone soon, Abbie will explode, though.

„Okay, listen. I know it sounds crazy, it feels like it too. But I cannot put it in another way" Abbie hesitated, but Trish didn't interrupt. So she had to go on... „I... sometimes I _hear_ things. Like... like voices in my head. Okay, I know how it sounds... They don't tell me anything to do or something like that" she added quickly. „These are different voices... uhm, like people's voices. You know... like _their thoughts._ "

Abbie looked at Trish in fear for what was about to happen. She hoped the well-known radio star would be wise enough not to make a scene. But Trish didn't do anything for a long time, only observed the other woman's face silently.

„Uhm, please say something. I scared you, right? I don't think I'm crazy, you know... just... this thing... it's not constant. Just sometimes it... never mind", she shrugged eventually. _Yeah, telling her was definitely a wrong idea._

Trish sipped from her cup for one last time and with that she finished it off. Putting the cup back to the table she asked silently, leaning over Abbie.

„How long?"

Abbie looked up. Trish's expression was honest, stern and intense.

„Uh... once in a while it has happened before. I remember a thing when I was twelve. But it was so rare I could easily forget it. But since I moved to New York, it's been more frequent. And in the past few months... I don't know what's happening, Trish!" she was about to cry.

Trish stroked her hand on the table for a moment to comfort her.

„How does it work? Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" she asked.

Abbie looked at her surprised. Trish was not mocking her, even more she was genuinely curious.

„Well, no, it's not that easy. I usually hear these voices when someone touches me. Even accidentally. But it doesn't happen each and every time. Just... it strikes me sometimes, I don't know when and why. For instance, I already knew about Barker, long before he made the announcement."

„Really?", groaned Trish. „And you didn't tell me?"

„It happened when I went to him in January to sign the new time-table for this year" Abbie shivered in the creepy memory. „I asked for a pen. When he handed me his, it was like... like a lightning in my head, I heard his voice saying _I fucking hate this, just counting the days until I get the money and leave you behind._ "

„Wow."

They fell in silence. Abbie didn't know what to say next. She wanted Trish to know she was not a madman or something. And Trish looked out of the window like nothing was more important than observing the pedestrians of New York City. She couldn't reveal her secrets to an almost stranger. Well, Abbie was certainly not a stranger, but still. This was not a joke, that's for sure. But what if it's a trap or something? Well, there's someone who can manage this kind of shit. Suddenly Trish turned back to Abbey and put her left hand on the coffee table.

„Tell me, what I'm thinking of."

Abbie glared at her. _What does she want?_

„Uhm, it's... not..."

Trish was determined.

„Try to do it. I need proof to believe you."

„Fair enough", Abbie held her hand and waited. Nothing. Nothing happened. Trish looked at her waiting so Abbie tried to concentrate even more. But to what? It never worked on purpose. Oh, hell... Too many people, the noise... She could've find a more quiet place.

And then it was a mere moment. A familiar voice.

"Who is Jessica?"

Trish shuddered a bit, not much but it was clearly visible. No answer came from her though.

"Who is this Jessica?" Abbie repeated "You thought exactly this: _We need to go to Jessica._ "

Trish swallowed and tried to set up a calm voice.

"There's someone you need to meet. Tonight after the afternoon shift at work. Meet me in front of the radio station. I think I'm closer to your _condition_ than you'd ever imagine."

Abbie started to have an unpleasant feeling. Trish probably misunderstood her, which was no miracle, to be honest. With this crazy stuff Abbie only can embarrass herself.

"What? No, no…" she shook her head. "I don't go to a shrink. I've already tried, it was a mistake. Please forget this entire madness, I…"

"Abigail" claimed Trish. "Meet me tonight, there's a way we can find out what is this. You are not alone in this, I know someone like you."


	2. Meeting Jessica Jones

Author's Note: I haven't written fiction in years but now just felt the urge! :) As you may notice English is not my native language, Please excuse me for my mistakes. I hope the story is gonna be okay though. :) Let me know what you think of my OC and portraying the others. Conflict of the story is going to be introduced soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Two: Meeting Jessica Jones

The rest of the day was a complete waste of time. Abigail couldn't focus on anything related to work during the afternoon, after she had that talk with Trish. She was sitting behind her little desk in the tiny office she shared with her colleague, Candice. Barker had his own office of course, remarkably more spacious one to be honest. Doesn't really matter though, Abigail got along with Candice and they usually worked in shifts anyway. But today was exceptional, they were together in there for the whole day – Barker's sudden leaving had put some extra load of work on the two editors. Normally Abigail wouldn't mind working in a team with Candice but today was not that day. She couldn't think of anything else than her promised meeting with that Jessica tonight. Finally she can meet someone similar to her, with the same problems. There will be a living creature who understands her struggles, maybe they can even help each other in some way.

Abigail got quite happy with this thought and couldn't help but glance over the clock in every minute. Time didn't seem to run anywhere though, workday hadn't felt so long before. She liked this job really, it was a bit different than her original career, something she had loved from the bottom of her heart, but that was then. Long, long time ago and never would go back there again. Now is okay, the job is okay she even made some new friend, like Trish. Or whatever Trish was to her, but kinda. Well, at least she offered her help in this extremely sensitive matter.

At 6 p.m. Candice shut down her computer and gAave Abbie a questioning look. She successfully mustered a smile and turned down the kind offer to get a cab and head home together. Candice didn't push the subject and Abbie was left completely alone with her thoughts for the first time today. Not for so long, as after soft knocking, Trish showed up in the doorway.

"Hi! Are you ready?"

Abbie jumped up and shut down her notebook simultaneously and a little bit too eagerly. "Yes!"

Trish nodded and they left the building in silence. Abbie just couldn't listen anymore so when they were on the street, it burst out of her:

"Where are we going? Who is this Jessica you were talking about? I want to know everything!"

Trish stopped at her car and waved to Abbie to get in. Once they were seated, she smirked at the other girl.

"Well, I haven't told anything about Jessica, I was merely thinking of her. She's my stepsister and a PI in Hell's Kitchen. She can do crazy stuff just like you."

Trish started the engine and Abbie instantly felt her heart throbbing in her throat. _Someone like me!_

"What? Really! She can read mine, just like me?" _Wow. Mind-reading, huh?_ She never named this thing before. But yeah, most probably that's the exact term for her very own crazy stuff. Maybe it's time to get along with it? This whole madness, happening in her life for a time now? She smiled at the thought, _yeah, it might help if I try to get on good terms with who I am, right?_

But Trish shook her head. "No, not at all. But you'll see."

After a not-too-uncomfortably-long ride they arrived to a not really appealing neighborhood. Abbie has never been there before but Trish seemed to be as confident as ever so she decided not to say anything just followed her friend as close as possible. The building was worn-out and filthy but it clearly doesn't prep her for the charm of Jessica Jones herself. Trish knocked on a door with broken glass which said something about an investigation office but it was far from readable so Abbie left it alone. They waited some time, then Trish knocked again.

"Jessica. It's me!"

At the exact same moment as Trish touched the door knob, the door opened abruptly. A dark haired woman showed up behind it with circles under her eyes and also with quite a distinctive smell of whiskey.

"What?", she snapped.

"I called you," Trish hissed. "I've come with my friend. Would you let us please in?"

The woman rolled her eyes but stepped back in order to give them space. "I'm busy!", she claimed in an irritated voice.

Maybe she was indeed busy but not by cleaning her apartment that's for sure. Okay, well, Abbie didn't want to move in or be bff with her. The woman didn't offered them seats so they were standing in the middle of the living room in silence. Eventually Jessica gave a glare to Trish.

"Who is she?"

"I told you! She's my friend from work. Abigail Pond. Abbie, it's Jessica Jones."

Abbie politely extended her hand and Jessica unwillingly but surprisingly firmly shook her hand. "So what do I owe to this pleasure?"

Abbie cleared her throat but then she didn't speak up. Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Trish started to speak in an uneasy voice. "Abbie told me today about… uhm… about her certain abilities. Right, Abbie?"

Jessica, who hadn't looked at Abbie twice while they were in her apartment, now turned to her and observed her face closely. "Abilities, huh?"

It was time for Abbie to start speaking if she didn't want to strike the woman as a total moron. After all that's why she came here with Trish, so…

"Uhm, yes. It's been happening for quite some time now. I-I can hear inner thoughts… other people's inner thought, I mean. Not always but… sometimes it happens. Recently it happened a lot, actually."

Jessica narrowed her eyes as she was observing her even more for a brief moment. She didn't seem neither pleased nor surprised. "Mind-reading, huh?"

"Y-yes, that's it. I suppose. It can be activated when I touch someone. Not necessarily and not all the time of course, but proximity increases my abilities. I can try it on you, if you want-"

" _No!_ " Jessica yelled abruptly and even took a step behind.

Abbie was first surprised then waves of shame washed over her. She felt so stupid. What was she thinking? Who is this woman anyway? Why is she giving herself out so much?

"Uhm, sorry… I wasn't… I didn't… uhm…" she heard herself rambling then bit on her own lip. _Oh God this is awkward._

Jessica shook her head a bit, looking at Abbie, but after a moment she turned back to Trish. "Okay, a mind-reader, you found her, good for you, Trish. But you don't need to gather all the nutcases of New York here. I don't have anything to do with this."

Abbie glanced over Trish who had a surprised expression on her face. As if it wasn't the exact reaction she had counted on. However she pulled herself together in an instant. She even managed to muster an apologetic look toward Abbie.

"Okay Jessica, I didn't mean to gather anything here. I wanted to introduce someone but I can never rely on your behavior, right? This was not necessary at all. Doesn't matter. Sorry for bothering you with something important and an issue very alike you are constantly dealing with. Come on, Abbie, it's no reason to stay any longer."

Trish was in the front door in an instant, so Abbie did her best to follow her immediately. She hated herself for her own dumbness. What was she thinking, really _? Maybe that anyone would care about her crazy stuff? Mind-reading, my ass._

Trish didn't say anything again until they reached her car. Then she stood in front of Abbie and tried to look rather apologetic. "I am sorry for what happened earlier. I didn't expect that obviously. She's a moody one. Uhm, shall I give you a lift? That's the least I can do after—"

"No, thanks!" Abbie claimed quickly "You did too much for me already, you really shouldn't have—uhm…"

She trailed off, and they both knew Abbie wanted to vanish as quickly as she can and never talk about that again.

That was exactly what happened afterwards. Trish never mentioned anything again, but she barely had the chance, since Abbie just vaguely answered her greetings in the next few days. Abbie felt completely destroyed. She elaborately avoided any physical contact with anyone, trying to keep those _voices_ to the minimum. It worked surprisingly good. That meant isolation of course. She even considered calling in sick, but Abbie wouldn't want to risk her job. So she went in as normal, but her productivity reached a new low. After work she headed home immediately and only felt a bit of relief when she closed the door behind herself. Dreamless nights came one after another, so eventually daytime was also a nightmare because of the exhaustion and desperate isolation. She couldn't even reach her parents. They were diplomats, currently staying in Mumbai. Aside from them she got no one, friends and guys were left in another life, a one she was not willing to remember.

But there's so much a man can endure, even solitude is something you can get used to. Ordering thai food and watching silly TV shows turned out to be okay to fill your life with. At least she had a comfy and nice apartment and never became anywhere near as lonely and depressed to consider having a cat. Time has passed and nothing happened. Not in work and not behind her closed doors. At least not until a Friday night. Everything was the same, lying on the sofa, watching TV and eating pasta this time. Abbie planned on having a movie marathon for the weekend and tried to figure out what to pick up for the next two days when suddenly, around 9 p.m. a loud and sturdy knocking was heard.

"God" she exclaimed.

She stepped to the door and cleared her throat. "Who is this?"

"Open up! It's Jessica Jones!"

 _What the hell?_ Abbie was so surprised and also a bit scared, she couldn't even think, just opened the door automatically, obeying the demand. She was standing in the hallway in all of her dark glory.

"What do you want?"

"You need to come with me. We might need your help."

She was charming as ever. Abbie had no intention to go with this woman. So let's be completely clear. "I don't go anywhere," she replied "And who's _us_ anyway?"

"Secret society with morons, you'll love it" Jessica snapped.

That definitely didn't sound something Abbie would be willing to attend to. "Okay, no thanks." She tried to close the door but a boot kept her from doing so.

"Come with me for whatever reason you made Trish bring you to me. And do it as long as I'm asking it nicely."

Abbie found it surprisingly good to finally speak to someone. Maybe her recent isolation made her to do stupid things, maybe there was something in this strange woman but she eventually just nodded and grabbed her jacket. _What on earth can happen, right?_


	3. The Ezoteric Mumbo Jumbo

**Author's Note: I haven't written fiction in years but now just felt the urge! :) As you may notice English is not my native language, Please excuse me for my errors. I hope the story is gonna be okay though. :) Let me know what you think of my OC and portraying the others.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Chapter Three: The Esoteric Mumbo Jumbo

Abbie was only a few blocks away from her home when she started to regret her quick decision. It's one thing to know Trish for a while now, but hurrying to an unnamed placed at night with Trish's strange stepsister is a completely other one. When Jessica suddenly waved to Abbie to follow her to the subway station, she stopped abruptly. Jessica discovered her hesitance a few moments later, so she had to step back to the other woman.

"What?" she asked impatiently "We need to get there real quick."

Abbie doesn't move. "Where is this place? What are we doing exactly?"

Jessica rolled her eyes irritatedly and also sighed, but figured she needed to answer if she wanted the other one to help her. It didn't escaped Abbie's attention that Jessica looked over quickly but carefully before she started to speak. "There are some, er, friends, so to speak, we need to meet. You're gonna be happy because they also have some special abilities themselves, so… maybe you'll get what Trish wanted me to—"

"Hey, okay, stop!" Now Abbie was the irritated one. Clearly it was a mistake going to Trish and getting this Jessica woman involved. She referred to Abbie as someone who is extremely excited about this craziness in her own head, instead of trying to figure her life out without it. Her entrant didn't go the way she had originally intended, so now it was the time for clarifying things with Jessica. "Look, I might strike you as a person who is totally into this crazy shit, but I can assure you, I'm not. When I talked to Trish I was afraid of going insane, merely talking about it with another person helped a bit" _yeah, well, that's not true, it didn't help at all, on the contrary, now she even has to avoid Trish to maintain the remains of her dignity._ "I don't need anybody's help, okay? Especially not yours or your whatever- _friend's_ , I'm doing okay myself, so I'm going home now."

Jessica stepped closer to Abbie, the sudden proximity surprised her, but resisted the urge to step back. There was something really, really contradictory in this woman.

"Listen. I don't want to help you. Actually _we_ need _your_ help."

Abbie stood there with a blank face for a second. "What do you mean, you need my help?"

"Your mind-reading skills can come in handy for us. If they're working at all. But you won't try it on me. It was not my idea to drag you there, but they insisted."

"Who?"

"Oh, you'll see!" Jessica rolled her eyes.

Abbie nodded and followed Jessica to the subway. They remained silent for the further part of the rather long journey and Abbie used this time to contemplate about what if her abilities didn't work at her own will at all, only at their own accord, tossing her life into madness, but never being able to get some advantage out of it. These things always just happened to her, she had no clue if she could control it at all.

"Come on, we are heading to the dojo!"

Jessica's words pulled her out from her errant thoughts as they got off the subway and reached their destination. Abbie followed her but was not able to stop herself from looking around constantly as if she was waiting for something bad or at least unexpected to happen. But nothing moved, darkness had already taken over the city, the building was almost empty and very quiet. They took the stairs, then Jessica pushed on a door which said: Chikara Dojo. There were three man and a woman in the spacious room, sitting on chairs and stopping talking instantly as they came in. Neither of them seemed familiar to Abbie. Jessica stood next to the others and idly introduced her guest.

"This is her."

Abbie stared at her for a moment, then decided to introduce herself properly, desperate to break the awkward silence. "I'm Abigail. Jessica and I've just met… uhm, through a friend."

The young woman nodded to her. "Hey. I'm Colleen, this is my place, thank you for coming." Abbie greeted her with a vague smile, but didn't know what to say.

"Can we really trust her?" the voice came from Abbie's right. She turned to the sharped dressed blind man, but before she could answer anything, Jessica snapped at the guy.

"You tell me!"

Abbie was wondering if she had ever felt so stupid in her life, but just couldn't recall another memory like that all of a sudden. She shifted her weight to her other leg and said: "I'm sorry, I don't know who are you or why I'm here, so… I'm not sure I can trust _you_ at all."

Now the big, black guy darted a questioning look at Jessica. "Didn't you tell her anything?"

The dark haired woman casually shrugged like she didn't give a damn to the whole thing. "Fuck off, Luke! I told her, we might need her help, I was not aware that I was supposed to feed her with the background stories."

 _Background stories, what the hell?_ Abbie wondered if that was the right time to turn around and leave this strange company for good. But instead, she tried to be polite, yet cautious. "Well, I don't know if I can help you out, guys. Uhm… Jessica told me it would require some certain abilities, but I—I really don't think I'm the right guy for you…"

"Of course, you are!" the man with the shaggy blond hair in the corner exclaimed with such enthusiasm, Abbie was actually frightened of it. "You are exactly the one we need!"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm the immortal Iron Fist" the answer came immediately.

 _Okay, that's it then._ Abbie was absolutely sure that she shouldn't come here in the first place. _Wrong decision's already made, but hey, no problem. Just get a cab, go home and pretend nothing is happened. On Monday I'll ask Trish about her crazy friends, though. Or rather not, well, maybe it's smarter to skip the topic for good_.

Abbie waved her hands apologetically and turned back to the door. Even though she was standing on way the nearest spot to the door, she couldn't even reach the doorway when she found her upper arm in a rather firm grip. The hand that stopped her, belonged to an arm in nice, white shirt and the arm belonged to the man she assumed was blind. Abbie's heart started to pound. _This is really weird shit. How in the hell he got here so fast?_

However his firm grip didn't loosen a bit, the voice of the man was even and somehow friendly. "Please, stay a little longer. We'll explain everything to you."

"Er, no thanks."

"You have seen us here, together, now we cannot let you go until we make sure you're not work for our opponents" with that he manoeuvred her back to the middle of the room. The fact that she was guided by a blind man crossed Abbie's mind for a short moment, but then the blond guy drew her attention to him again.

"You can't leave, you are the Oracle the prophecy predicted!" he wore a big smile and enthusiastic expression on his face but it was not a bit appealing to Abbie in her current state. She managed to tug her arm out of the grip of her guard and tried to control her breathing for starter. "What are you talking about?" she groaned in disbelief.

The guy didn't seem offended by Abbie's coldness, instead he offered the answer more than willingly. "You are the Oracle, who sees and hears beyond worlds to help us in our great fight."

Abbie stared at him in response then looked around in the room, closely observing the strange group. This shaggy guy was undoubtedly mental and also overly enthusiastic, but oddly the others didn't seem to share his temper. Jessica was smirking in disbelief, the girl named Colleen purposely didn't meet Abbie's gaze and the other two guys were obviously busy with suppressing the smiles of their own. It somehow didn't make sense, any of it. Is this some team work here, or not?

"What is this esoteric Mumbo Jumbo here?" she bursted out, doing a really good job not to laugh into their faces. Some strange instinct just told her to be patient and careful, if Jessica had been right earlier, some interesting stuff was going on here after all. That was one rather problematic heritage from her past, Abbie couldn't get rid of: she was unbearably curious. Maybe that was the source of her crazy abilities, always wanting to know what was going on in someone's head?

Presumably the other members of this weird late-night party understood that they needed to provide more information for the new girl if they wanted anything from her at all, because the blind guy started to speak in a calm and objective manner. "We are after a rather big and influential syndicate of organized crime. One of their organizations we managed to track down is dealing with human trafficking. A rather high standing member of it is in detention but the DA is going to let him go since they don't hold enough evidence against him. As long as he's in there, we can approach him, which we already tried but the result was not promising. It's obvious that he won't give us any kind of information, not under his detention, nor later during an occurrent interrogation."

A little, strange feeling started to build deep down in Abbie's guts and ever so slowly it crawled its way upwards. She shuddered for a quick moment.

"So… what do I have to do with all of this?" she asked in a thin voice.

"Jessica told us she knows someone who can read minds." The guy who was called Luke earlier offered the more than obvious answer. "Is this true? Can you really do that?"

Abbie cleared her throat nervously. "It's not how it works. Actually I don't really know how it works. But… proximity helps. Usually I hear other people's inner voices when I touch them. It's not that easy or automatic, though. I don't think, I'm the right person for you." She repeated her former statement vigourously.

After that everything happened really, really fast. The blond guy leaned forward with glimmering eyes and stepped closer to Abbie.

"Of course you can, I believe in you! We waited for you for so, so long and eventually you're here. Just like the prophecy said. I am sorry I haven't even introduced myself properly. I'm Danny Rand and I happen to be the Iron Fist." The guy grabbed Abbie's hand to shake it and as an impact of his touch, all of a sudden something has blown up in her mind. She heard his voice inside her own head, loudly and eagerly as his thoughts rambled around in a loud and fast vortex. Abbie's head turned and she instantly felt dizzier than ever had in her life. Yanking her hand back, she tried to gather herself. Her heart started pounding as she glanced over these people in front of her. Now everything started to make sense, but she wished if it was only a joke. The last guy she looked at was the blind one again, whom she'd learned now was—

"Devil of Hell's Kitchen."

The muffled words lingered for a long moment above them. Someone exhaled sharply. Danny Rand was still standing right in front of her and now gasped at Abbie in awe. "Did you get that from me? Just now?"

The poor girl's heart set up an even faster pace. This was something she was definitely not supposed to get involved with. _But what shall I do no?_ "Oh my God," she whispered. "You are the crazy vigilantes from the news" she stated lamely.

Next to him, the man who turned out to be the Devil of Hell's Kitchen immediately tensed. "You figured this out just now? Jessica told us, she knew you well" he hissed menacingly.

Abbie heard Jessica's voice saying something about _that's not exactly what I said,_ but she couldn't care less right now, her eyes were fixated on the guy who stepped even closer and turned completely into her direction. This move definitely intimated her, so she cleared her throat and tried to clarify a few certain things.

"I'm sorry, guys, I'm sure you're working on something big, but… this is not for me. I'm a normal, regular girl, with that stupid inner voice stuff which is kinda an unfortunate inconvenience I'm trying to hide from other normal people. I thought knowing someone like me might help, but… well, it's obvious that I was wrong. This prophecy thing and all… it's not for me. Please leave me alone and I'll do likewise, is that okay?" Abbie desperately tried to stay calm and prudent so kept down her voice and hoped they would understand that she didn't fit in the picture.

"She seems to be honest," the Devil of Hell's Kitchen stated. "She's probably not a threat."

"Of course I'm not!" Abbie exclaimed sincerely. "I'm not like you. I work at a radio station, doing nothing heroic. I'm not a fighter and can't get involved with this kind of shit. Sorry."

Jessica made an angry sound and turned her head away from the others. She seemed upset and somehow _disappointed._

Luke moved closer to Abbie too, now. "Hey" he said in a low and kind tone "we don't want you to fight or team up with us. But we are an inch close to a very high up member of a really big, bad company we want to take down. These people… they deserve the worst. Organ trafficking, prostitution, you name it. The worst kind of guys. But we're stuck now. And can't move forward without help. After that – you can go. It's just a one-time session in a hearing room."

Abbie's heart sank. She would've never in a million years prepared for that. "I am sorry" she shook her head slowly. "I don't think I can really help you. My powers doesn't reliable enough."

"You can't say that, you are the Oracle of K'un-Lun!" Danny Rand interjected with his usual shocking enthusiasm.

That was the last drop in the glass for her. "You're a nutcase man! I'm leaving." Abbie saw Colleen trying to hush Danny, but the Devil of Hell's Kitchen drew her attention to himself again. He handed her own silk scarf.

"Here. It dropped off the floor" he said nicely. Abbie took the scarf confused. _Not bad from a blind guy, I didn't even notice it myself. Scary shit is scary._ "It's completely understandable if you don't want your life to be effected by this" the man continued. "You can leave, if you'd like." _Oh, someone finally speaks my language._ Abbie felt relieved.

"Hey, you can't tell her that!" That was Danny again, who seemed to be the most lunatic one here. _I can imagine him running around in a mask._

Abbie hesitated for a moment, than just nodded and with an apologetic look on her face, quickly exited the room, leaving the five of them behind. Now she had a lot to process. She tried to recollect every details of this strange meeting and the more thoughts she put into it, the more it became crazy. Oracle and what not… Maybe people with certain abilities is really just another expression for madness. She needs to supress this thing and get over it for good, this is in her best interest.

As Abbie walked her way through the neighbourhood, she decided not to go home. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts and these brand new memories to deal with if she wanted to be honest. It would be much better if she returned back to average, normal people, maybe her craziness would fade away sooner or later, if she didn't think of it all the time. This made Abbie almost happy, when she entered a bar and walked right to the counter to order a drink. That's what she was needed now, a little bit of oblivion and relaxing. One or two drink would work just fine and tomorrow – tomorrow she'd start everything over. Talk again with Trish and maybe even try the shrink for one last time. Yes, she should definitely do that.

Abbie let out a deep but now relieved sigh.

"Rough day?"

Abbie turned to her side, looking for the source of the voice. Next to her, a very tall, handsome blond man was having his after-hours drink. He faced Abbie with a seductive smile and nodded toward her Cosmopolitan.

"Yeah, we can say that" she smiled back to him.


	4. Sweet Touches Come With Unwanted Voices

**Author's Note: Thank you for the many new follows and favs! It means a lot! I needed to upgrade on the rating, because this chapter contains explicit sexual content, but it seemed quite important to develop my OC's personality in this aspect. Let me know what you think, every review mean a lot to me.**

 **As usual: English is not my native language, sorry about that, and also don't own anything.**

Chapter Four: Sweet Touches Come With Unwanted Voices

Being as light-headed as she hadn't been in a long time actually helped to ease her nervousness, pain and shame, a uniquely unpleasant mixture of feelings she had to deal with lately. But after her second Cosmopolitan, when the tall, blond guy with expensive cologne and the smile of a real womanizer offered to buy her a new one she agreed more than willingly. The chat they had was light and pleasantly commitment-free. The exact same kind she needed after this week – well, after this whole period of her life she had been enduring. They started with their jobs as usual, it turned out the guy named Aaron was a stockbroker, travelling through New York, staying only for tonight. _Perfect._ Abbie told him about her editor job at the radio station and how tiring this week had been and feeling relieved as it slowly reached its end. They didn't even touch upon the topic of their personal lives, neither of them needed to ask a single thing about it, the matter of the situation was so obvious with Abbie sitting in the bar having drinks alone and never mentioning that she would be waiting for anyone, and the constantly travelling stockbroker staying for one night in the City – that made them a perfect match for tonight. Abbie wasn't dressed for a date obviously, she wore a pair of jeans with black top under her jacket but it didn't mean she couldn't pull a striking appearance. It felt so good not thinking at all, just going with the flow. She hadn't done this for a long, long time, at least not among people. Given to that, her social life was a tragedy nowadays, especially when she desperately tried to avoid any physical contact with anyone. Well, tonight that's not what was going to happen.

When it almost turned midnight, Aaron was about to leave, he'd mentioned that earlier, since he had a flight to catch at 8 a.m. "Although I truly enjoyed myself tonight" he added. Abbie nodded with a smile in agreement, so Aaron continued. "It would be a real shame to end it here so early. Would you care to join me at my hotel room? It's right on the other side of the square, and I possess an excellent bottle of aged brandy, it's a gift from the company I happened to consult with."

Abbie smiled light-heartedly. "How could I resist – to aged brandy?" she teased.

Aaron smirked, his eyes darkening a bit when he stood up and offered her his arm to leave. The temperature wasn't as chilling as usual, due to the extraordinary warmth these days, but Abbie shivered a bit under the sudden hit of the fresh night air. Across the park there was one of the fanciest hotels of Upper West Side, Abbie was not surprised at all when she noticed they were heading there. She was rather familiar with this kind of places, as a child she used to live in hotels like this even for quite long periods with her diplomat parents all across the world. However now it felt like it had been in another lifetime. She had changed so, so much, Abbie wasn't even willing to think it through. She shook her head a bit, trying to clear her mind from this memories when she already found themselves in the elevator. With her endeavor it helped a lot that as soon as the elevator door closed behind them, Aaron turned to her and brushed a light kiss on her lips. A nice sensation jolted through Abbie's body immediately, it was something she hadn't had the chance to feel in a long time so now welcomed it gladly. Before she could lean into the kiss even deeper, the elevator clanged and the door opened.

"Here we are" Aaron breathed and stepped out, pulling Abbie with himself. He found his room quickly and let them inside, then cleared his throat and tried to collect his thoughts again. "So… we were about to try that brandy, right?"

Abbie leaned to the wall and gave him a telling smile. "I think I'm done with drinking for tonight. Do you have another suggestion?"

Aaron glanced at her with an approving and evidently amused smirk and stepped toward her. "Well, I do have something on my mind."

"I could tell" Abbie breathed, but she didn't got the chance to say anything else because his lips crushed on hers immediately. It was nothing like the first, light kiss they exchanged in the elevator. It was kind of a test from his side and when he felt confident enough about the situation, he unambiguously moved forward. Their kiss deepened and became more frantic, Abbie could feel her own body temperature rising with need – those sweet needs she had desperately suppressed and now broke out. Aaron ran his fingers through her hair and even pulled it a little bit and Abbie moaned into their kiss in return. When their lips parted he moved down onto her neck and sucked on the soft spot right under her ear. This move drove her insane, she moved harshly and automatically thrusted into his groin. Aaron was heated enough himself to burst out in need by this move. He tucked his fingers into her top and yanked it over to expose as much pale flesh of her as he could. Abbie took a moment to toss down the jacket and panted to him. "Pull it over!" she waved to her top. He obeyed immediately, then dropped his head and attacked her nice, full breasts, which were barely covered with the turquoise lace bra she was wearing. Abbie inhaled sharply and ran her fingers through the man's blonde locks. The sensation was phenomenal, something she was craving for so long, it almost made her desperate. And the man between her breasts knew the drill, for sure. At the moment when he moved to her nipple with his mouth, groping her back with his hand, multiple sensations hit Abbie's senses. First his administrations felt extremely good on her nipples, sending waves right down to her sex – she shuddered with lust when something else happened: she heard a voice clear but somehow distant. A man's voice. _Give in to me, baby and get to the real deal._ It took a few moments for her to acknowledge: she heard Aaron's voice in her head. Abbie glanced down to the man who was still busy with teasing her aroused nipples and now shoved his hand into her jeans. She intended to think about how he meant that in his mind, but every trace of cloudy thoughts vanished when he hit her sweet spot with his fingers.

"Yes, _please_ " she hissed. Aaron took his chance and stripped her off of her jeans and panties. She wanted this so bad and for so long. He teased her for a while, listening to her deepening pants, until she was so wet, he finally had enough. Then Aaron emerged and spoke in a raspy voice. "I want you from behind."

She had absolutely no problem with that, so willingly gave him a seductive smile and nodded. The man visibly grew more self-confident at her silent response and nodded his head toward the giant panorama window, unbuckling his belt. "Move to the window!" he commanded.

Abbie's heart skipped a beat for the thought of being fucked at the window above the City which was incredibly hot and something she never did before. Almost like doing it in public. So did as she was told, feeling in a bliss and also as naughty and needy as never before. She support herself on the wide window and for a short moment she looked down to the city she loved. This is a night she'd never forget. Tilting her nice ass up, eagerly waiting for what was coming she glanced over her shoulder to Aaron. She saw the man taking a moment to intake the ravishing beauty of the woman in front of her with extremely pale skin, matching blonde hair and overpowering neediness for him after he managed to put up a condom. He felt undoubtedly contended and a little smug as well. "That's a good girl" he growled. With a swift move he shoved himself into her folds so firmly, Abbie cried out at the overwhelming sensation. It was truly a bit rough for her, since she wasn't with anyone for years now and the pleasurable antecedents earlier were stopped quite abruptly. It didn't matter, she did her best to go with the flow and adjust to the erratic pace he was setting inside her sweetness. But while his strong thrusts impaled her also another jolting sensation ripped through her mind. _Such a little, good slut, she even enjoys it!_ The words, undoubtedly nothing else than Aaron's inner thoughts, hurt her as soon as she comprehend them. Her heart sank with waves of sadness. She tried to force her mind to stay empty but her own inner voice yelled through her brain. _I am not a slut. Why can't I just enjoy an innocent affair without this?_

Being judged by the man who happened to be relentlessly fucking her for his own bliss was unacceptable. But his ministrations started to feel good as he found the right pace and sent sweet vibes throughout her entire body. Abbie tried desperately to focus on her own pleasure – seems like it was the drill now, being concerned with their own benefits. She tried to move her body getting some more pleasure out of the situation. Aaron reached out and grabbed one of her breasts with one hand, still steadying her hips with his other. That was the point when his incoherent inner voice hit her brain again. _Slutty city girls… always my type. Fucking like this… should do this all the time when I got the chance._ Abbie tried everything not to listen to the man's unwanted thoughts. Who cares what is he thinking of her? They'll never see each other again. _Who am I kidding?,_ Abbie thought to herself. _It hurts bad, no matter I'm not even suppose to know this. I want to enjoy myself. Is this such a bad thing?_

She felt far from her climax – in the past few seconds a little even further than she had been, but the heated and increasing gasping from behind told her, he was about there. "Come with me!" the hoarse command came. It didn't work though and as he ripped into her for one last time with a loud groan, even more clear and harsh words crawled into her mind. _Fucking boring marital sex. Elena should have seen this._

Poor Abbie flinched at that. Elena was his wife with no doubt. The wife he had purposely didn't mention during the entire evening, keeping her in the dark. She was never intended to commit adultery. She wasn't seeking for wedded men, ever. Lying to Abbie hurt her almost even worse than unrespectful thoughts. For once she just wanted to enjoy herself, having a human moment, but… hey, the harm is already done. Abbie gritted her teeth when felt Aaron retreating from her. Rage and revenge flooded over her brain and decided not to go home until getting her relief as she was supposed to. Sympathy vanished from her as she turned back and faced the man again.

"To the bed, now" she commanded.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, but didn't mind the sudden turn of events. "Are we going all romantic now?" he teased as he backed to the impressive queen size bed.

Abbie groaned with darkened eyes. "Oh no, we won't do any romantic at all. Spare that to your wife!"

"What?" he seemed utterly surprised by her words, but Abbie didn't intend to explain anything further. She tossed him onto the bed and climbed over him.

"Now we are focusing onme a little bit more" she stated.

Aaron smirked devilishly. "I don't have a problem with that. I love women who know what they want."

Abbie never looked down at him again as she angled herself upon the man and buried all the sadness and loneliness deep in her heart. She was desperate to have a good night. She deserved that, no matter what.

"Eat me!"


	5. Sorrow and Redemption

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading this chapter! I know it's been a while now, most of you've probably already given up on me. But now I eventually found the time to write more. Sadly my English skills havent't improved a bit so you have to deal with that.**

 **Please let me know what you think (on the plot, on the characterization, on the writing, anything), your reviews and feedbacks make me keep going!**

Chapter Five: Sorrow and redemption

Early in the morning Abbie was walking down the streets, fighting with her unpleasant emotions and rather dark thoughts. First it was rage – she felt unspeakable hatred toward her own abilities and also toward the guy life had flowed into her way. She left the hotel room at dawn, carefully and silently as a ghost in order to not waking Aaron up. She never wanted to face him again. Of course it had been the idea from the very start – having good sex with a stranger without consequences. Just feeling good for a really short amount of time, feeling the softness and warmth of somebody else's skin. It was something she had been lacking for a tremendous time now. Usually she had avoided human interactions, intimate touches – yesterday evening Abbie had hoped making contact with someone again would made her feel whole and warm in the inside eventually. And of course she was in need of some really good sex as well. Neither of them had happened. And why is that? The blame was all on her. These abilities _, gifts_ as some people would refer to them. Abbie grunted in anger and shook her head as she turned right on the corner and almost knocked a woman over. Deep in her thoughts she didn't even bother to apologize, just blindly marched forward. _Is it too much to ask? Being able to walk and live among people? Having a normal life?_ Aaron's behaviour was utterly unacceptable, he didn't have the right to be like this. Of course Abbie would never know anything about his private thoughts if it wasn't for the unwanted mind-reading she loathed. It would have been a nice one night stand, satisfactory and light-minded, in the morning they would have said goodbye and Abbie'd stayed with nothing but nice memories. But that would mean she had been kept in the dark all along. The liar would have been able to conceal everything from her, the fact that he was married and also that on his business trips he regulary looked for easy whores to make his pathetic sexual fantasies come true. For yesterday evening she was one of them. Was this a potential part of every one night stands? Probably yes, but no one except Abbie would have known any of this. And she was utterly upset being able to reach these deeply buried facts and thoughts of her former partner.

As she crossed the street all of her anger suddenly turned into mere sadness. Hot tears were burning her eyes as she fought against them breaking out and falling down her cheeks. She positively didn't want to cry over this. Well, it may had seen to be a good idea, but turned out to be a terribly wrong one – _apparently it seems like I'm not someone to love and to be loved or touched or anything. Only if the sex had been good, but… yeah, well, I should join some order of nuns,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _Speaking of nuns._

In the hope of being able to get rid of the thoughts preying on her she decided to drop in the church she was frequented from time to time. Abbie was not the most diligent member of the church but she was _a_ member of the church, nevertheless. Seeking for redemption she entered the door, the early morning service had already begun. She found a seat at the back and turned her head down onto her folded hands in front of her. The familiar sound of the chorals and the never changing words of holy texts eased a little bit of her pain. Maybe being alone is not that bad at all… _God, you must have had a reason to gift me with this thing. Who knows? Maybe I have some significance after all._

The hot tears found their way out now. Silently crying Abbie was finally felt a little bit relieved. She made mistakes – engaging into a sexual relationship with Aaron was clearly one – but her desperate need for touch and the feeling of being hold was understandable. Now she know better and the pain is going to fade. Everyone makes mistakes the point is we need to learn the lesson of them. The service was over, people slowly started to stand up and leave the church. Father Lanthom had already returned to the vestry in the side of the building. That was the moment when Abbie glimpsed up and noticed a familiar figure approaching. She blinked back her tears as she recognized the blind man from yesterday. _The Devil of Hell's Kitchen._ She decided to stay calm and shut her mouth up in order to be unnoticed. As the man reached the row Abbie was sitting in, an older woman crossed his way, making him stop.

"Oh I'm sorry, young man, sorry, I left my Bible in the bench. I didn't mean to…" the lady realised she had almost collided with a blind man and that made her even more distracted and jolted. "I _am_ terribly sorry, young man. Can I offer my help to you?"

Matt who sensed the woman beforehand and managed to stop way before any accident could have been occurred, stand there, smiling politely and assured the old lady that he was fine and didn't need any assistance. Then he noticed something strange. Apart from the old lady's loud and rather quick heartbeat there was another one quite close. And this one was way younger and stronger, yet thudding in an also increased speed. He tilted his head a bit toward the sound and immediately could sense someone sitting in the bench he and the lady was standing next to. With the ever so light and feathery-like sound of moving a long, cascading hair the scent reached his nostrils. Woman. Young. _Familiar._ It didn't take a mere second to recognize it, jaw clenched as he recalled the memory of last evening. The silk scarf had the same vanilla scent. The woman Jessica had introduced to them.

"Abigail?"

Abbie jolted in surprise as her mouth fell open. _How in the hell…?_

"Hey" she said lamely. "How… how do you know I was sitting here?"

The man frowned behind his glasses. "Sorry, you intended to be unnoticed, right?"

Abbie didn't answer, the situation was already too awkward for her taste. "Uhm… how are you? How was… the meeting yesterday?" _Why am I doing this?,_ the little inner voice of sanity yelled in her head. Now, for a change, it was her own. He tilted her head and for a second remained silent. After that he gestured toward Abbie. "May I sit down?"

She drew aside to give him space, even though she didn't expect this reaction. The question came from mere politeness and she didn't have anything else in mind to say. "Sure", she nodded anyway.

The man took a seat next to her and extended his hand. "I am Matthew Murdock. Now it has no sense to deny it."

"Matthew," she shook his hand. It was warm and dry, surprisingly good to touch at. "I am Abbie Pond."

"How long do you come here?" he nodded, referring to the church.

Abbie shrugged. "For like eternity."

A moment of silence fell on them again. Matt could sense the tension in the woman's body and also felt some reminiscence of saltiness which was assumably the indication of former tears. And something else too. In this closeness he could clearly sense a scent of a man as well. "Yes, this is a place of peace," he managed to say.

Abbie nodded tensely. "I needed peace. Haven't had any lately with this newly growing ability of _you know what._ "

"Everything is okay? You left rather abruptly yesterday."

 _No. Nothing is okay,_ she thought to herself. "Well, I haven't come in terms with this… mind-reading yet," she whispered, looking around carefully in the silence of the empty church. "I'm just… clueless what to do. Did you guys find out anything with… your… erm, mission?"

Matt shook his head. "No, nothing. We cannot do anything, only watching as he is going to be released by Tuesday."

Abbie stared her still folded hands in her lap. She'd tried and tried so hard not to bother with this whole thing. But it turned out to be super-hard. Yesterday night was the last drop. Maybe she couldn't live a normal life with normal people. At least she could do something good for once. Only for once.

"I… well, I was thinking," she stopped and turned to the man next to him. _Gosh, he has a great scent. And his warmth is radiant. Oh thank God, he's not the one with mind-reading skills,_ Abbie thought to herself and rolled her eyes. Matt was still facing her and calmly waiting for her to continue. So Abbie sighed deeply. "If you think it's worth to give it a try I can do everything I can to help."

Matt seemed to be surprised and clenched onto his cane. "Would you, really?"

"I can not promise anything, though" she claimed. "But I can try, yes. I don't know if it will work or not, but if you can get me in there with him, why should I not try?"

Matt beamed a smile to her which made Abbie's heart sank – in a good way, for the first time in a week.

As it had been discussed on Monday morning Abbie waited for Matt and his partner near to the NYPD station. She was about to do something really good, at least that was what she told herself. As insanse as the whole thing was, she still trusted Matt Murdock. Nothing seemed to be too crazy now, that she was a fucking mind-reader. _Why the hell not?_

She noticed Matt approaching with a blond haired man who held file folders in his arm. He said something to Matt, who nodded and the blond one – to Abbie's utter surprise – waved his hand cheerfully.

"Hi, Abigail! I'm Foggy Nelson. It's nice to meet you."

They shook hands and Abbie said hi to Matt as well, who returned it with a warm smile. As they climbed the stairs to the entrance together, Foggy quietly feed her with the details of their upcoming action.

"I'm representing the counsel of the prosecutor the state has on this case. We introduce you as my legal assistant – I'm aware that you are not qualified," he added quickly as Abbie wanted to interject. "But no one will tell. You'll just have to make notes while I'm questioning the man in there, okay?"

Abbie nodded.

"Good luck guys, I'm waiting for you here," Matt said, standing next to the door Foggy already entered.

"What?" Abbie said sharply. "You won't be there?"

Foggy immediately looked at Matt and stood still in-between his motion as he sensed her alarmed state. "Didn't you tell her?"

"No," Matt shook his head. "I'm not on the case and Foggy and I, we are not partners anymore, so I'm not allowed in there. You should do it alone. But everything is going to be just fine. The man won't suspect anything, it's the usual boring legal procedure for him."

The reassuring tone of his voice couldn't entirely erase Abbie's sudden anxiety but she decided to leave it there. She faced Foggy and nodded, so they entered the room together. A quite good looking, middle-aged man sat in there in hand-cuffs. He wore a severe and somehow bored expression and didn't even look up at them. Next to him a police officer stood firmly, who immediately nodded toward Foggy as they stepped in. Foggy answered his greeting and put down his files on the desk, one of them slided on the side, waiting for Abbie to take her notes.

"Officer Wallis, I'm Foggy Nelson representing Miss Hogarth. This is my assistant, Miss Pond. Shall we start?"


	6. Far From Okay

**Author's note: Hey guys, you must think I'm dead, but here's an update for you. Even with a little action at the end, it kinda sucks but I hope I'll get better at writing this stuff. :) Hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to drop me a line when you finished, I treasure your feedbacks beyond everything!**

 **Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything.**

Chapter Six: Far From Okay

The suspect's lawyer finally arrived – a tall man in expensive suit and with nonchalant expression, who never gave Abbie and Foggy a second glance – and the usual procedure began. Foggy stated his name, title and purpose of the hearing. The man at the opposite side of the table, named Bruce Belcher seemed to be rather bored than anything. Foggy had already had a hearing with him before and he couldn't come up with anything new, so he had to go through his questions from earlier again with little modifications.

"Mr Belcher, who did you meet at the Port on Wednesday evening when you were arrested?"

Abbie reminded herself of the fact that she happened to be an assistant now so quickly snatched a piece of paper and started to take notes. She tried to focus on this man but nothing happened, her mind was silent and peaceful. Belcher also didn't try to engage in conversation with Foggy, his answers were short and reticent.

"As I previously stated I had never intended to meet anyone there at the port," he sad in a deep, even voice.

"During the investigation the police found a note in your calendar at this day. Three letters: _MGU._ " Foggy pointed out."What does that mean?"

"It means nothing. Initial letters of my loved ones," Belcher replied with a strange little smile lingering on his lips. Abbie found him utterly loathsome and revolting as he was clearly lying to them.

"What are M, G and U stand for?"

"Margaret, Gary and Ursula, as I told before."

Foggy sighed and moved to the next question. Of course the names were already checked, distant members of his actual family. Obviously the codenames were carefully picked and perfectly safe, leaving only that little itching in the stomach when you know something more lays beneath but you can't prove it in any possible way. They had nothing to hold against him, that was for sure. The questions were useless and Belcher didn't give them proper answers. _Now or never,_ Abbie had a feeling that it was time for her move. Yeah, let's get into action, but _how_? Foggy's questions and Belcher's short answers faded slightly as she was thinking hard. Trying to focus as hard as she could, she concentrated on the man sitting across her. It helped nothing. She didn't have a single, distant echo in her mind.

Abbie looked down at her hands in frustration. That was the point when she realized, she stopped taking notes minutes ago. Ashamed, she cleared her throat and with a sudden idea, let the pen flipping out from her fingers. The little instrument rolled over the other side of the desk, near to Belcher's cuffed hands. _Yes!_ Abbie gathered all the courage she had in herself and mumbling apologizes, reached over to the pen, while deliberately touched the man's skin. She peered up to him in the same moment as the man shot her an intensive glance. And all of a sudden a deep, unpleasant voice echoed right there in her mind, clean and straight. _Gary Walsh, that prick. At eleven._

Abbie drew her hand back startled, squeezing that poor pen as if her life depended on it. Her heart throbbed in her throat almost painfully heard and she didn't even dare to look at Belcher. She mumbled a muffled apologize and leaned back onto her chair. After a few seconds she attempted to make eye contact with Foggy who was surprisingly eager to return her glance. Abbie noticed that the lawyer was in an utterly uncomfortable state while desperately tried to interrogate the suspect without any little trace of success. Abbie blinked at him a few times, hoping she was sporting an encouraging smile, but to be completely honest, poor girl was just as nervous and edgy as Foggy. However the guy got the hidden message and closed his files with a sudden move.

"That would be all for now. Thank you for having us," Foggy nodded toward the police officer who was standing in the distant corner of the room and also the attorney across him. Abbie noticed that Foggy was avoiding to take a last glance at Belcher though. When Foggy abruptly stood up, she hurried to follow him, gathering her papers and pen and stumbled toward the door right in the heel of Foggy.

Outside Matt was waiting for them impatiently. At the same exact moment they stepped out, he straightened up, fully alarmed and carefully listening to them. As Foggy and Abbie approached him, he studied their heartbeats for a moment, then couldn't stand but asked in a low and stifled voice: "Do we have something?"

"Yes", Abbie breathed, trying to swallow down the strange, newly-formed dumpling in her throat. She wasn't quite used to this kind of shit. Yeah, she definitely overheard something she wouldn't want every now and then, but this was something else: totally deliberate and happened with a rather intimidating suspect of crime. It was a little bit too much for starters. "Get the hell outta here."

Matt nodded and they immediately headed toward the front door. Leaving their visitor badges at the receptionist's counter finally left the building and Abbie's racing heart also started to slow down. She took a few deep breath in the fresh air and suddenly felt relieved.

"I got nothing we haven't already know", Foggy said and the two men turned toward Abbie.

She sighed. "I got a name. Gary Walsh."

After a moment of silence Matt shook his head. "Gary Walsh. Never heard of the name. We gotta check on him. Anything else?"

"Oh, yes. Eleven."

"Eleven what?" Foggy asked.

"I don't know. Uhm… _at eleven,_ it was. Gary Walsh at eleven. It seems to be a meeting. Maybe with Gary Walsh and at eleven o'clock. But when exactly, I don't have a clue. It can be today or tomorrow or anytime. And anywhere."

"Is that all?" Foggy asked frustrated as they reached the corner on the street.

Abbie growled a bit, feeling the same frustration. "I am so sorry," she scoffed angrily "The thoughts of people don't work like this. We are just rumbling incoherent words in our minds most of the time. Next time you should hire someone who can see even the mental images of other people, I guess. My abilities reached their limits, I suppose."

Matt put his hand onto hers in an attempt to soothe her. "Sorry, Abbie. We are incredibly grateful for your help." Abbie could only nod in response even though the man next to her couldn't see that, and suddenly she felt very unsure again. As if her heart was starting to pace a bit quicker again. However, having his hand on hers felt surprisingly good. There was something in his appearance that could calm her and make her feel okay. Foggy also apologized for his manner and excused himself to work. When Abbie and Matt were left alone the man stepped a little closer.

"Abbie, as I said I'm very grateful for what you did. Now we have another clue we can work on. The others are going to meet tonight at the same place as the other day. Could you join us this time? I think it would be helpful if you could tell us again what happened in the hearing when everyone is present. Would you do that for me, please?"

"Uhm… yeah, sure" Abbie didn't see the point but she would never admit that for the world. There was a little feeling forming the depths of her heart now. Pride. She was proud of what she just did. _Hey, not many can tell that about themselves! Maybe this shit is actually good for something_. Yes, it would definitely be nice to repeat everything in front of the others again. Bunch of weirdos, sure, but still. At least they were not totally freaked out when she revealed her long-hidden secret which kept her in chains, forcing to avoid people and pretend as everything is normal and in order. Even when it was – well, saying that nothing was normal and in order would be a huge understatement. So yes, she would go, surely.

Abbie nodded. "Yes, I'll be there. Now I'm involved in this whole… _thing,_ so why not."

Matt grabbed her arms with a smile. "Thank you, Abbie. Thank you so much. Meet us at 9.30 p.m. in the dojo. You'll see, you are making a difference here" he added reassuringly.

Abbie felt her cheeks flush and suddenly muttered something about taking a cab. Matt gave her a last warm smile and said his goodbye before leaving her on the sidewalk and walked away in an unusually steady and fast pace. _Well, I'm not even surprised now,_ Abbie thought to herself shrugging as she got into a cab.

The atmosphere was quite different now in the dojo. There was a light but distinct tension lingering over them as the kid with the messy hair was relentlessly pacing while his sort of girlfriend tried to hush him in an uneasy voice. They were still waiting for Matt, Luke and Jessica. Abbie arrived a little early and was rewarded with the company of these two. The kid almost couldn't handle the joy that Abbie's appearance caused him – probably none of them expected her to show up anymore. _Well, Matthew was quite persuasive, we have to give him that._ But thank God, at least this Danny Rand boy didn't come up with the Oracle-bullshit. It would have been way too much. After a while light footsteps were heard and Matt showed up in the door.

"Good evening" he greeted them politely and stood there frozen for a minute before he entered the room. Quickly he took his moment to count the heartbeats and estimate who were in the room. Of course it helped when everyone said hi. Stepping closer he asked Danny. "So we are waiting for Jessica and Luke?"

"Yeah, hope they have some news, too," the boy answered, never stopping his nerve-racking pacing.

Abbie was amazed. How in the hell he could tell that? The man was really something. She was literally itching to ask Matt about this non-conventional behavior of a blind man but before she could've gathered the courage the two missing members of the strange team arrived together.

"Finally!" Danny exclaimed impatiently "So, would you please tell us, what you got?" he turned to Abbie.

Everyone gave her a curious eye, so she sighed and tried to remember all the details. "We went to this guy, uhm, Belcher, the one who is in custody."

"Yes, he's probably an underboss of the gang we are currently after. But neither we nor the police could get even the smallest details from him, so he's going to slip out of our hands very soon." Danny added slightly impatiently. "Is there anything you can do or not?"

Abbie just raised an eyebrow at the hot-headed boy but let it go. Instead of retorting she nodded and started to speak. "So… I heard nothing at all when we were sitting on the opposite sides of a table, but when I got the chance I touched him for a moment. Only a mere moment I could risk, but it went really well, thank God. And I heard this: _Gary Walsh, that prick. At eleven._ That's all", she hurried to add before Danny Rand or his fellow nutcases would attack her for more details. But nothing like that happened, the room fell in silence for a long moment.

"So we have a name, another name," Jessica stood in the corner, leaning to the wall with an expression that made it clear, she was far from amazed with the turn of events. "Alright, gonna check it, we'll see what turns up."

"Yes, this is definitely something. And we shouldn't forget about the date. _At eleven._ " Matt quoted, but Abbie felt the urge to interject.

"Yeah, I don't know anything about that. Sorry. Not a day, not a place, nothing. I'm not even sure it's an exact time for something. It probably is, and maybe it's right tonight, but—"

"It doesn't matter" Matt gave her his reassuring smile. "With your help we eventually get another clue when had nothing else than dead ends."

The guy seemed to be almost hopeful, and also Luke nodded in agreement and thanked Abbie but Danny just didn't stop pacing across the room – hell, it even seemed like it was annoying Jessica as well. Abbie didn't have to think about it too long, because the boy offered the explanation eagerly as he ran his fingers through the messy hair of his and growled in frustration.

"We are running out of time. I tell you guys, it's a selection process. I've seen it before. We. Don't. have. The. Time."

Although before anyone could have spoken, something happened. At first it was Matt who snapped up his head but it was too late for him to realize that they got company. Before he could've warned the others, the door swung open with a large _thump_ and Abbie couldn't see anything else but the muzzle fire. She just stood there at her place frozen, watching a bunch of men barging in the room and entering fire at them, while sheer terror took over her.

Luke was the first to move: with steady steps he moved closer to the enemy, bullets rolling down from his chest. When he reached the first man and grabbed his weapon, taking advantage of the sudden moment of stunned silence Jessica leaned forward and punched the first man in the line with such an inhuman force he flew back to the door, drifting three others with himself. This was the moment when the others engaged in the combat as well. There was five against eight.

All of a sudden life came back into Abbie's limp body and instinct took over: she ducked down and tried to draw as far as she could get. Even though her brand new buddies did a really good job at keeping the attackers occupied, one of them who was previously knocked down by Jessica pulled himself together and noticed the rather vulnerable woman on the floor. Abbie, being absolutely unexperienced in these kind of situation and never even held a gun in her life, helplessly watched the fast changing scene in front of her, so she immediately noticed that one of their attackers was interested in her. She screamed but her voice wasn't recognizable in the noise of the combat. The man approached her and lifted his gun menacingly. Abbie had never found herself in front of a gun, the blood ran cold in her veins and somehow the moment widened up: everything was clear, including her mind. She was facing death, Abbie knew that well. She had nothing, absolutely nothing power to fight back. However before she could've reached the end of the sad train of her thoughts, the man was pulled up into the air and an enormous force tossed him heavily against the wall not far from where Abbie curled up.

"You okay?" Luke looked down at her and she could only nod in response.

The room fell into silence again. Their attackers were laying on the floor unconscious and in an erratic pattern. Weapons were thrown all over the place. Abbie's alleys were gathering themselves panting from the impact of the sudden attack. Colleen cleaned her sword from thick, red blood. Abbie was alive. But honestly, that was far from _okay_.


End file.
